(Gus Van Sant / USA / 2005 / 97 min / 35mm / cert 15)
(Mon-Tues 14th-15th / 7pm / £2)

In a radical departure from the usual cliches of the rock star biopic, Van Sant's take on the last days of Kurt Cobain is a pitch perfect blend of minimalism and tragedy. Similar in style to the previous film Elephant - blending the European art-house sensibilty of Bela Tarr with the graceful, voyeuristic steadicam work of Alan Clarke - the film follows burnt out rock star Blake (played by Michael Pitt), a proto-Cobain figure with bleached hair and bombed expression, as he wanders through the grounds of his decaying mansion trying to make sense of the confusion around him. The physical landscape is transformed into an emotional geography of appalling isolation, and we are brought to feel what it's like to grow so indifferent to the world and the self, to be so unable to speak in words or song, that death seems the only escape. A remarkable and transcendental experience.